"Oh Lord, you made many, many poor people.
I realize, of course, that it's no shame to be poor.
But it's no great honor either!
So, what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?"

If I were a rich man
Ya ba Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada dum
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man

I wouldn't have to work hard
Ya ba Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada dum
If I were a biddy biddy rich,
Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man.

I'd build a big tall house with rooms by the dozen
Right in the middle of the town
A fine tin roof with real wooden floors below
There would be one long staircase just going up
And one even longer coming down
And one more leading nowhere, just for show

I'd fill my yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks
For the town to see and hear
Squawking just as noisily as they can
And each loud cheep and squawk and honk and quack
Would land like a trumpet on the ear
As if to say here lives a wealthy man

If I were a rich man
Ya ba Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada dum
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man

I wouldn't have to work hard
Ya ba Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada dum
If I were a biddy biddy rich
Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man

I see my wife, my Golde, looking like a rich man's wife
With a proper double-chin
Supervising meals to her heart's delight
I see her putting on airs and strutting like a peacock
Oy, what a happy mood she's in
Screaming at the servants, day and night

If I were a rich man
Ya ba Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada dum
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work hard
Ya ba Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada Dabada dum

Lord who made the lion and the lamb
You decreed I should be what I am
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan
If I were a wealthy man.

